Czech police's biggest drug bust in 35 years: 36 trucks of goods

The National Drug Headquarters of the Czech Republic (NPC) carried out one of the biggest operations against synthetic drugs in its 35-year history: this summer, police raided two underground labs and warehouses in Prague as well as in the Central Bohemian, Moravian-Silesian and Plzeň regions, hauling away confiscated goods, raw materials and equipment on 36 trucks.

Labs and chemical warehouses

The seized premises housed laboratories filled with measuring instruments, computers and so-called “washing machines” — devices used to spray cannabis buds with synthetic substances. The warehouses held tonnes of chemicals and liquids in test tubes, canisters and barrels, while hundreds of cannabis plants grew under lamps and irrigation systems in sprawling greenhouses. According to NPC director Jakub Frydrych, in terms of volume, scale and complexity, this operation became one of the biggest in the agency's history.

The finished products from these labs were sold in corner shops, vending machines and ordinary retail outlets across the country. According to police and hospital laboratory data, some of the banned substances found have caused and continue to cause hundreds of poisoning cases, including among children.

Hundreds of millions of crowns seized

Over several operations this summer, NPC officers filled 36 trucks with confiscated goods, raw materials and production equipment. The haul included more than 11 tonnes of dried cannabis, some of it laced with synthetic cannabinoids, more than three tonnes of cannabis plants, 2.65 tonnes of hashish, a large plantation, a hundred kilograms of cannabis powder, cultivation equipment, almost a tonne of jelly sweets together with an industrial production line for making them, about 120,000 packages of finished product and hundreds of kilograms of goods ready for packaging. They also found hundreds of thousands of joints, thousands of e-cigarettes, vapes and cartridges, and thousands of litres of chemicals — some of the bags of cannabis buds were labelled with names like Amnesia, Blue Iguana, Peruvian Haze, Columbia Medium or Acapulco Gold.

Police worked together with the Financial Analytical Office, which helped identify suspicious transactions by drug traffickers and freeze money in bank accounts. According to the NPC, almost 60 million crowns in cash, account balances, cryptocurrency and precious metals were seized, and the total value of everything confiscated, including production and greenhouse equipment, is estimated at 330 million crowns.

Three foreigners under arrest

Police detained and charged three foreign nationals, who are now under arrest, and launched criminal proceedings against three legal entities. According to the NPC, as members of an organised crime group, the foreigners have been charged with the illegal production and trafficking of psychoactive substances, spreading drug addiction and laundering the proceeds of criminal activity — if convicted, they face years in prison and confiscation of their property.

Products from the underground labs were also sold abroad: police passed one branch of the case to their Polish counterparts. Within Czechia itself, according to the investigation, the dried cannabis was mostly further processed by spraying it with synthetic drugs.

Around Prague, based on reporting by seznamzpravy.cz